Sunday, 26 January 2014

Quick & Easy Puff Pastry Tart

This is a post for all the people who don't particularly have the time to cook big elaborate meals. It's perfect for those evenings where you come in and calling up Dominos is too tempting. Well these posts will be a lot cheaper than a large meat feast - even on Tuesdays! I'll be doing a few Quick & Easy guides every now and again. Hopefully my little tips and 'cheats' will inspire you to pretend to be a domesticated goddess!

Not many people have the time or patience to make their own puff pastry. You don't need to when it's so accessible to the supermarkets. This concoction of items can serve 1-2 people depending on how hungry you are and if you are adding a side of chips to it! It takes no longer than a few minutes to prepare this meal before throwing placing it in the oven.

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry

A few spoonfuls of tomato puree or pasta sauce

A tomato or two

Mozzarella

A few slices of ham

As most instructions will tell you, first pre-heat your oven to 220C or 200C Fan. I often put tin foil over the baking tray so it is easier to wash afterwards. Use as much or as little puff pastry as you want. Cut off a very thin border so the pastry layers can rise.

I treated this tart like a pizza. Firstly adding a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce and spreading it around the centre of the pastry. I purposely left a border for the pastry to rise into a crust. Add your toppings however you fancy - my lovely assistant Tom cut up our toppings and places them on top of the sauce.

Other ingredients you could use for this quick and easy recipe are: pesto, chicken, bacon, other cheeses, veggies... I mean the possibilities are almost endless! When you're happy with your tart, place it in the oven at 220C or Fan Oven 200 for 20 mins.

Tom and I made this tart for dinner and served it with chips. The only thing I'd change about it was the positioning of the ham -next time we will hide it under the cheese to avoid it burning. It tasted like a pastry pizza and has quickly become one of our favourite meals.

Have you ever used pre-made puff pastry before? If you have any Quick & Easy posts you'd like to be featured here as a guest post please get in contact! Don't forget to leave your links with your comments below.